|
|
Job Strategies
Dorothy J. Cattle (cattledj@WFU.EDU)
Tue, 23 Apr 1996 14:48:13 -0400
> On Mon, 22 Apr 1996, a student wrote:
>
> > I'm a graduating student in anthropology at the University of
> > Colorado. I would think that this would be a gread place to inquire
> > about new jobs being offered.
This is not an example of networking as I understand it and it seems
likely this individual did not mean it to be. The assumption being made
about the Anthro-L list as a "great place" to inquire about new jobs is
at least questionable. It is an assumption that has not been borne out
by the postings on this list over many months. It is not unreasonable
that the student made the assumption, but it is not met nor intended to
be met by the types of discussions usually encountered on this list. There
*are* other places, online and off, where all types of jobs are listed and
regularly updated, etc. These resources can be searched in a number of
ways and can be used by students and others as their time allows. The
postings are already in the format to give the job-seeker the necessary
information for applying or for researching job market opportunities or
for trying to "match" one's qualifications against the various jobs being
posted. One could spend one's time more productively tracking down all
these resources than assuming or hoping Anthro-L is a likely and fruitful
job-seeker's site. I don't think most list members want the Anthro-L
list turned into numerous vague postings about individuals' job needs or
repetitious queries about job possibilities. There are occasional
postings about openings, but these tend to be fairly advanced types of
positions and not entry-level for graduating anthro majors.
There could be discussions of a broader nature about current and future
jobs, how to assist students with resumes, how to update advising
procedures, critiques of one's university career offices [which faculty
members have actually visited theirs lately in order to learn about the
resources available to students and to assess whether anthro majors fair
well with the services offered?], successful mentoring programs, and the
like. Even the job loss discussion of several weeks ago which didn't go
very far would do much to inform student members of this list.
Poor characterizations of networking, cavalier or sexist descriptions
of job-seeking, implying that unfair employment practices are
the norm or are tolerated by some colleagues in some subfields, unthoughtful
encouragement of students to use this list to look for jobs, etc., I think
are all counterproductive for our discipline and for the people one might
genuinely want to assist.
Regards,
Dorothy J. Cattle
Wake Forest University
|